Accessibility Links

Paul Hartley: ‘It has been so tough. You wake up and think, what am I doing today?’

After becoming disenchanted with football management, Hartley is now ready to get back in the game

Douglas Alexander, Scottish football correspondent

January 13 2019, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

Family matters: Paul Hartley has found his love of football returning as he has watched his son Raegan’s game developingSTUART WALLACE

Paul Hartley didn’t want to watch football. He didn’t want to talk about it. He had shut himself off from the game that he previously poured himself into with such passion. After managing Alloa to consecutive promotions and Dundee to the Championship title and a place in the Premiership, the former Scotland midfielder was a rising star of the management scene, but then Dundee’s progress stalled and they sacked him. Falkirk headhunted him as a proven quantity when it came to promotion, but Hartley couldn’t provide it and admits now accepting that job was a mistake.

He was left disenchanted. The stress of getting a result every Saturday. Had he picked the right team? He’d tell his partner, Lisa, who works at Aberdeen, not to…

Want to read more?

Subscribe now and get unlimited digital access on web and our smartphone and tablet apps, free for your first month.